Arnold Schwarzenegger has apologised for groping women, 20 years after dismissing the allegations as “made-up”.

Six women accused the Hollywood star of groping and humiliating them in a Los Angeles Times report in 2003.

The investigation was published in the lead-up to the 2003 California governor election.

Schwarzenegger, who won the election, labelled the story untrue and accused the media of attacking him.

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But in three-part Netflix docuseries Arnold he has backtracked, saying his initial reaction was “defensive”, according to Rolling Stone.

“Today, I can look at it and kind of say, it doesn’t really matter what time it is. If it’s the Muscle Beach days of 40 years ago, or today, that this was wrong. It was b******t.

“Forget all the excuses, it was wrong.”

A total of 15 women came forward to accuse Schwarzenegger of groping them over three decades.

LA Times reporter Carla Hall said in the documentary she was “surprised” the story did not have more of an effect on the election.

“I thought that more people would be offended themselves,” she said.

The documentary, which explores Schwarzenegger’s acting and political career, also sees the 75-year-old open up about telling his wife he had fathered a child with another woman.

After a 35-year marriage and four children together, Maria Shriver filed for divorce in 2011 after Schwarzenegger disclosed he had had a child with a member of their household staff years earlier.

Arnold comes out on 7 June on Netflix.